flyhi

Dave, I salute you for a great post. It takes a big person (read non-skygod) to not allow his ego to get in the way of educating the masses. You have obviously been jumping for awhile and your willingness to bring this forward should make everyone say, "If it can happen to him, it can happen to me. I better check again and make sure." This is a cheap but valuable lesson for everyone to learn. And it didn't cost anyone (except you) anything. You have reenforced the safety posture in the sport and we thank you. flyhi

This scares me. flyhi

Actually, no he isn't. flyhi

You'll save a fortune on film; black and white vs color. But of course the bottom line is you have to jump it. If you're happy... But I'd go with more color. flyhi

To raise it up a notch: I heard that 70% of the people defending our Country are in the Reserves. Also that we could not, at this time, mount the type of effort we did for Desert Storm because of a shortage of people and equipment. Students of History, does this sound familiar? flyhi

Probably too late, but for future reference, if you mix sugar with wet concrete, it won't set up...ever. flyhi

Sis, Jumped Deland once and as great as it was, one of the things I remember most is the sand. Unfortunately, not where you land, but where most of the up-jumpers pack. If you pack yourself, take a packing mat and small brush or rag. If you can afford a packer, they do it inside. A few people were able to slicky a place inside to pack, but not everyone, especially if it is busy. I wasn't. Everytime I opened the top of my helmet got sandblasted. But it's skydiving out of big planes and it's great. Have fun. Skydiving is like sex, either it's good...or it's great! flyhi

Does anyone remember Puck from The Real World when it was in San Francisco? Has he resurfaced? flyhi

You had me right up until that "cat-friendly" thing. flyhi

Traffic pattern: crosswind, downwind, base, final. Also, I agree with the Instructor wearing a camera. It wasn't a policy where I learned, but one of my instructors did and gave the video to me. He even mixed it, a little. I was so appreciative, I tipped him a Jackson. Told him it would have been more, but now he and I both had a reason to dislike my ex. flyhi

Am I missing some serious sarcasm here? What is the learning tool? Are there people out there who don't know that if you hit your head real hard, it could be hazardous to your health? It would make more sense to make every instructor jump a 220+ sq ft canopy as a "good learning tool". At least then students would see their true capabilities and how they should look both in flight and in the pattern. flyhi

A rigger told me that line twists will occur if the D-bag hits, bumps, or knocks against the bottom of the reserve container as it deploys. This causes it to start spinning. He said that this can be caused by making the last stow too close to the top of the risers. flyhi

Can they do that? I could see them demoting it to a moon or a meteor or something, but not a star. I thought a star was a swirling, hot, gaseous mass, similar to a post-burrito & beer freeflyer at 12,500 feet. Useless trivia: If you add the digits of a number together and the sum is divisible by three, then the original number is divisible by three. flyhi

Just wondered. No one I jumped with ever got that far in the skydive anyway. But we can dream... flyhi

Hey Carl, Your Home Page has a picture labeled "Closed" Accordion. I thought that was called a Compressed Accordion? flyhi

What does a woman have to do to have sex? Ask! flyhi

In every battle in the Civil War, one side or the other or both was commanded by a graduate of the United States Military Academy. flyhi

I did two autorotations this morning. flyhi

Too bad you're not in France. You could jump in a crowded, hot bus with a couple of dozen of your best friends. That would surely clear your head...or kill ya. Either way, your problem would be over. Ciao flyhi

They prefer the title Crack Ho's. "The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision." - Lynn Lavner flyhi

ARKANSAS CITY (EAP) -- A Little Rock woman was killed yesterday after leaping through her moving car's sun roof during an incident best described as "a mistaken rapture" by dozens of eye witnesses. Thirteen other people were injured after a twenty-car pile up resulted from people trying to avoid hitting the woman who was apparently convinced that the rapture was occurring when she saw twelve people floating up into the air, and then passed a man on the side of the road who she claimed was Jesus. "She started screaming "He's back, He's back" and climbed right out of the sunroof and jumped off the roof of the car," said Everet Williams, husband of 28-year-old Georgann Williams who was pronounced dead at the scene. "I was slowing down but she wouldn't wait till I stopped," Williams said. "She thought the rapture was happening and was convinced that Jesus was gonna lift her up into the sky," he went on to say. "This is the strangest thing I've seen since I've been on the force," said Paul Madison, first officer on the scene. Madison questioned the man who looked like Jesus and discovered that he was dressed up as Jesus and was on his way to a toga costume party when the tarp covering the bed of his pickup truck came loose and released twelve blow up sex dolls filled with helium which floated up into the air. Ernie Jenkins, 32, of Fort Smith, who's been told by several of his friends that he looks like Jesus, pulled over and lifted his arms into the air in frustration, and said "Come back here," just as the Williams' car passed him, and Mrs. Williams was sure that it was Jesus lifting people up into the sky as they passed by him, according to her husband, who says his wife loved Jesus more than anything else. When asked for comments about the twelve sex dolls, Jenkins replied "This is all just too weird for me. I never expected anything like this to happen." "I use to be messed up on drugs. Then I found the Lord. Now, I'm messed up on the Lord." Cheech and Chong flyhi

When you track, your body should look like the cross section of an asymetrical airfoil. Round on top, flat on the bottom. If you arch when you do that, you are defeating the purpose. Push up with your stomach. Hold your arms straight with your palms down and PUSH with them. Roll your shoulders forward. Point your toes. I have a friend who tracked away from an eight way with your body position and the worst possible thing happened. He was caught on video and stayed in frame the whole time. The beer cost alone almost killed him. "My cousin is an agoraphobic homosexual, which makes it kind of hard for him to come out of the closet." - Bill Kelly flyhi

Neither have I. When my Javelin {constructed in 1999} is all buttoned up, there is no bridle showing. A good pin check prior to exit and I feel safe. "Sex without love is a meaningless experience, but as meaningless experiences go, it's pretty damned good." - Woody Allen flyhi

The Boss is gone on a business trip (The day before a long weekend. Right!) and I don't have any deadlines until next Wednesday. Think I'll go check and see if there is a www.hotchicks.com web site. "You know that look women get when they want sex? Me neither." - Drew Carey flyhi

Thanks Kris. As always, it's sad when we lose a brother. Let's all be safe out there. flyhi